On Monday, September 23rd, in the wee hours of the morning, a Med Evac team from Guardian Flight came in and transported Marcus out of Alaska Regional Hospital. The process of transitioning Marcus to his transport bed took the ARH and Guardian teams a little over thirty minutes to complete. Both teams were very accommodating to any and all questions that we had about the process. The hand off from ARH to Guardian was one that was reassuring for us as a family. Shortly after 2:30 am, Marcus, accompanied by his grandfather Alvin, finally departed Anchorage. 

We are incredibly grateful for the team at Guardian Flight, who made the chaos and confusion of dealing with insurance less overwhelming by making an exception for Marcus’ trip down to Chicago. After running into road block after road block, Guardian’s help was the opening that finally allowed us to make headway on getting Marcus to where he needs to be. We are extremely thankful and overwhelmed by the kindness they have shown us.

After two refueling stops in Seattle, WA and Billings, MT, Marcus’ Med Evac team arrived in Chicago at approximately 11:30 am Anchorage time. Upon arrival, Marcus was transported via ambulance to his new “home” facility: Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. He has been set up in his new room and will begin working with the doctor tomorrow (9/24) on first assessments, after which they will be able to put together a customized rehabilitation plan. 

For those interested in learning more about where Marcus is now, we’ve linked various sites below.

http://www.srlab.org

https://www.youtube.com/@ShirleyRyanAbilityLab

https://www.facebook.com/ShirleyRyanAbilityLab/

https://www.instagram.com/abilitylab/